Baubles and Buble

I woke up on Christmas morning to the sound of Michael Buble blasting from the CD player in the kitchen, where my dad was hastily (but very festivly) prepping the turkey and dancing around the room in his christmas apron - the kind that only makes an appearance once a year...oh dear...

 It was official. Michael Buble would be the soudtrack to my christmas 2011. The CD has been on repeat all week, and as a result, I now know every word on the album. I'm a big fan of "the boob" and I love his voice, but after a while there's only so much you can take, so, I am pleased that it is new years eve, and as from tomorrow no Buble will be allowed. (Not straight-away anyway..)

Here's a clip from Buble's TV special, 'Home For Christmas'

(The main reason I watched the show was because I thought it was actually from his home... needless to say I was disappointed..)

Good Note: I have discovered the 'Puppini Sisters' who are featured on the album.

Bad Note: I need a break from Buble.... I am worried, this has never happened before!

Kaz and his Chritsmas Kazoo

My boyfriend Kaz found this quirky little present in his stocking this Christmas. It was given to him by our friend Becki who has nick-named him Kazoo, so of course, he loved it.

Anybody can play the kazoo. As long as you can vocalise in tune, it should sound good. Famous names like Jimi Hendrix and the Beatles have used kazoos in some of their recordings, admittedly, mostly for comic effect, but I am told that there are professional 'kazooists' in the world... I am yet to meet one though... 

Check out this video, Metallica's 'Enter Sandman' played on the kazoo!

A Guinness World Record for the 'largest kazoo ensemble' was set this year at the Royal Albert Hall where nearly 4000 kazooist's performed Wagner's 'Ride of the Valkyries' and the 'Dambusters March'.

Good Note: Kaz has promised to play and record his kazoo on some of the projects he is involved with this year  =)

Bad Note: .......is there one?

Merry Christmas! - God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen, Jazzy Cover.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Love from Becci Ridout (me) and Adam Glover

Saxo-ma-phone!

Precisely 7 days ago I spent the entire night dreaming about playing saxophones, turned the TV on to a sax-pact Simpsons episode, and before I knew it found myself trawling ebay for an alto sax. Considering that I have always wanted to learn to play sax, I took it all as a sign/excuse to splash-out, and so I feverishly (and some may say foolishly) bid on the fastest-ending auction for an alto saxophone, and won!

So ladies and gentlemen, I am pleased to announce that I am the proud owner of a brand new (second-hand) alto saxophone!

Good Note: I will FINALLY be able to learn sax.

Bad Note: It's going to be a nightmare for my house-mates...It will be like in Friends when Ross tries to learn how to play the bag-pipes!

Beyoncé - Love On Top

My love-affair started with Beyonce when I was just a child.  I would dance around my living room to 'Survivor' and 'Bootylicious' with my sister, copying as many dance moves as I could. Since then, I have always admired Beyonce, her style, her stage presence and her incredible stamina.

My love for Beyonce was re-confirmed when I saw her headline performance at this years Glastonbury Festival in the summer. She. was. incredible! And now, her new song 'Love On Top' is quickly becoming my favourite song from a long and impressive collection.

God Bless the Bassline...

I have had a musical breakthrough!
After struggling for years with writing songs, I have FINALLY found a way that I can write music, and have (with thanks to my recent artistic discovery) been able to write 3 fully completed songs, in 3 weeks. So now I am on a roll! 


I know that it doesn't sound like much to those of you who can sit on a 20-minute bus journey and write a masterpiece whilst waiting to get to Hackey Central, but for me it's a breakthrough! and it's all thanks to the beautiful bass-line. Admittedly, me programming my bass riff into Logic and listening to it repeatedly on loop until I come up with a melody, isn't so beautiful... but the end result sort-of actually is. I'm actually confident enough about the finished songs that I'm sharing them with the world for the first time ever, so that really must mean something.

So I want to thank you Mr Bass-line, you've saved my bacon!  

Illustration by Louisa Taylor - http://louisataylorillustration.blogspot.com

Good Note: A long-awaited, personal breakthrough!

Bad Note: I am 22. Why could this not have happened sooner??

Lotta Love For Lloyd

  Lloyd - Dedication To My Ex (Miss That)

I really like this song at the moment! (the clean version anyway..) I love the 50's retro feel, definitely a style that's creeping back in.. 

I'm not a fan of Lloyd's older material, but this song is definitely a step above the rest, and it's doing well in the charts so clearly, I'm not the only person who thinks so! 

So it's 11:11pm on the 11/11/11....and I'm still alive...

The number 11 has haunted me for years. I don't know if haunted is the right word, I cant decide if the number 11 is a lucky or unlucky number for me, or, it is just significant because it crops up EVERYWHERE I look; my alarm clock radio, till receipts, the TV, the clock on my microwave.... Everyone who knows me, knows that I have a thing about the number 11, and a thing about double numbers.

Nothing really bad has ever happened concerning the no. 11, so being the optimistic person that I am, I have more-or-less decided that it's my lucky number. Therefore, I have been waiting for this date, the 11th of November 2011, to come-along for years in the hope that it will be my ultimately lucky day! Unfortunately though, I have not won the Euromillions today, nor have I had much other luck today. I have to admit, I have also been paranoid that this would be the day that I would die, but considering I'm still here writing this blog, then I guess I don't have to worry about that one! 

Double numbers also seem to jump out at me. There was a time a few months ago where it got to the point where I thought I was going a little bit mad. I was seeing double numbers, especially the number 11, everywhere I looked.  I remember one incident particularly well. My parents picked me up from university in London, and on the way back to my family home in Dorset I was telling them all about my weird 11:11 happenings. Then, when and we got home, I noticed that our kitchen clock had stopped at exactly 11 minutes past 11!  I dropped my hot chocolate all over the floor and demanded an explanation from my parents, convinced they had taken the batteries out of the clock, to wind me up (no pun intended). However, my dad found it just as weird as I did, because he had changed the clock batteries only the week before.

There are a few explanations on the Internet about the so-called "11:11 phenomenon", some obscenely ludicrous, others not so much. But whatever the explanation, it still weirds me out every time I look up and find 11:11 staring me in the face. I guess I'll never know why...

Shake it out

It was only yesterday that one of my friends asked me if I had heard the new song by Florence + the Machine, and then by coincidence I woke up to it this morning via my alarm-clock-radio, and instantly liked it. 

And now, after horrible day that has resulted in a massive boo-a-thon (as Amy Rademaker would put it), this song is making me feel loads better  =) Thank you Florence. 

Good note: I've found my new favourite song, and have re-kindled my love for F+TM.

Bad note: I can't sing like her.  

Meet The Band - 'The Old Souls'

Please allow me to introduce my beautiful band! 

We're excited to be making new music for the new uni term, and we'll be gigging shortly -updates will follow.

 

Becci Ridout - Lead Vocals

Adam Glover - Backing Vocals

Nicola Hogg - Backing Vocals + Saxophone

Guitar -  Sebastian Langkamer

Bass -  Sam "bass-man" Burnett

Drums - Justine Sleigh 

Antonio Paulo - Keys

"oi slag! you wanna shag?"

SINCE WHEN has it been okay for a man to lean out of his car window and shout "Slag!" at a girl walking down the street? I had to blog about this because I get more than my fair share of abuse from blokes who think it's okay to shout, wink, whistle or make some comment at a woman passing by, but this guy today shouting "oi slag, Slag, SLAG! D'ya wanna shag? slag? SLAG!!" took it to a whole new level. The worst thing was, it was even some boys having a joke and messing around with their mates, (which still doesn't make it okay) but it was one or two (clearly very desperate) grown men, angrily hurling abuse at me out of their car window, and who then proceeded to get angrier when I ignored them and kept walking on. Can they actually not understand why I didn't fall to my knees with overwhelming flattery and jump in the car?! COME ON! And it wasn't even as if I was hanging around in the street with a itsy-bitsy mini skirt and wearing a low-cut top, I was wearing jeans and a big ol' coat and scarf, looking in no way like a "slag".

Banoffee Pie

Illustration by Louisa Taylor - http://louisataylorillustration.blogspot.com

I'm currently going through a shitter of a time trying to write music for the new uni term. We're back with a bang and 3rd year is already living up to my expectations that it will be full of stress, tears and tantrums (this is the point where I should apologise to my boyfriend Kaz for being a royal bitch yesterday, eek!) Song-writing is not a strength of mine, but if I pull my finger out of my arse and convince myself that I have the song-writing genius of Bob Dylan, and a body like Beyonce, I reckon I can get through it.  

      

Good Note: I ate banoffee pie yesterday, favourite dessert ever! =)

Bad Note: I broke the diet and ate banoffee pie yesterday =(

Janelle Monae on Jools Holland

Jools Holland is the man, and if you get invited to perform on his show, it usually means that you are too. Well, in this case "the WOman". Janelle Monae rocked it out on LATER... with Jools Holland yesterday, and she was pretty amazing. 

Shamefully, I've never heard of the soulful 26 year old singer before, but thank-god I channel-flicked the the time I did. Her style, voice and stage presence made me stay-tuned, and stay-put to see her perform 'Cold War' and 'Faster', where, despite suffering from a sore-throat, the performances were just as exuberant, energetic and perfectly delivered as the first. 

Looking forward to hearing more from this lady!

Cee-Lo on the Ceiling

Did anybody else see Cee-Lo Green's performance on the Jonathan Ross Show last night? It was SO bizarre! He was floating around on what I can only assume was a large camera crane, zooming aorund the studio and above the audience. I spent half of the time waiting for him to fall off... My friend Emily and I could not. stop. laughing. Expecially funny when you see Jonathan Ross bopping around in the background and clapping along like a little kid. Just take a look! 

Maverick Sabre, Aruba Red & Logic @ Jazz Cafe, 9th June 2011

Another virginity lost! My first visit to the legendary 'Jazz Cafe' in Camden is certainly not something I will wake-up and regret in the morning...

I had a great night out tonight supporting my boyfriend Kaz who was playing drums for Aruba Red (daughter of legendary bass player Jack Bruce). MC Logic warmed up the crowd ready for Aruba Red and her band, who were on-point the entire set.  This was the 2nd time I had seen her perform, and enjoyed it more than the first. The atmosphere in the iconic venue was great as expected, and her overall performance and allure on stage was great to watch.

 However..... the night was all about English born, Irish bred R&B/hip-hop/soul singer Maverick Sabre..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2mnz1NpwSVk

I recognised a few of Maverick's more well known songs like 'Jungle' and 'I need', but I have to admit that I didn't really know much about him before tonight. It was his fist headline gig, and as he put it "the greatest moment of my career so far". However,  he is playing the I.O.W festival this weekend, so I don't know how long that statement will stand! 

I had a great view up on the balcony surrounded by his family and friends who were all watching intently and with beaming pride. You could see it in his face, he was soaking up every second and wasn't put-off by the 100+ screaming girls in the audience. After his recent appearances on The Jools Holland Show and BBC Radio 1 Live Lounge, and numerous tour dates supporting the likes of Plan B and Snoop Dog, I have no doubt that Maverick Sabre will be a name familiar to most of us by the end of the year. He is definately one-to-watch. 

Losing my blogging virginity!

Here goes...... A couple of weeks ago, I went to see a gig in Islington with one of my good friends Fliss. She came to visit me here in London, and wanted to take me to see her friend play in his 3 piece, guitar based band (who shall remain anonymous). I checked them out online before the gig and I thought they were good, but not something that I would choose to listen to in my own time. However,  I was still looking forward to the gig because I always enjoy listening to live music, weather it's to my taste or not. The band were good but I found myself getting rather bored towards the end of their set, there was, for me, to much guitar, and I struggled to hear the lyrics of the song - being a singer myself,  the lyrics of a song are really important to me. Don't get me wrong, I love listening to music that doesn't have lyrics, but if there are lyrics, then I want to be able to hear them.


Whilst the band were playing, the venue filled up to standing room only, and members of the audience began clinging onto anything around the walls to better their view of the stage, ready for the next band 'Quadron' - a 3 piece neo-soul band from Denmark. I was completely unaware of their popularity, and had just thought I was in for another night of various unknown bands, playing playing back to back to a half empty audience. However, as soon as Quadron stepped onto the stage, the crowd, and the atmosphere in the very intimate venue exploded.

The crowd were ecstatic, and with my expectations growing, the lead singer 'Coco O' kicked the set off with her powerful and almost haunting vocals that remained flawless throughout. The Danish band played atleast 10 songs, and with the majority of the crowd knowing the lyrics word-for-word, the audience were singing along throughout the night;  I even began to sing along to some of their very catchy melodies that remained embedded in my head for the rest of the evening. After being pressured by the crowd to let Quadron perform one more song, the sound engineer broke curfew and let them have their encore that was so desperately wanted by everybody in the audience.


All in all, it was a fantastic performance that confused, surprised and charmed me all at the same time. I would definitely recommend going to see Quadron perform live because I believe that there are few recordings that show off this ladies very full potential, and certainly nothing that can quite capture her presence on stage.


Phew! Glad that's over!